Internet.

The way in which music becomes popular has changed drastically in the past decade. Ever since the introduction of the internet and computers into society people not only have an almost infinite amount of knowledge at their fingertips but are also equipped with the ability to communicate with any number of people anywhere in the world. Blogs and other websites have greatly impacted the music world in recent years by spreading music and creating a domino effect of popularity all across the Internet. This, in turn draws attention to certain musicians and artists in a way that would be completely impossible in another era. For example any musician could record a song and put it on the Internet where it can be heard and distributed by virtually anyone. The now popular Hip Hop collective OFWGKTA began a series of home recordings released on Tumblr and MySpace that through the Internet grew into a nation wide phenomenon. NPR points out that OFWGKTA’s main tool used to gain success was the use and coverage in websites across the Internet.

Their own personal Tumblr is also a prime example of how to gain attention on the Internet. By using over the top lyrics and intense imagery OFWGKTA has been able to grasp peoples attention with pure shock value but keep them coming back for more with their music.

Many other musicians use the Internet to stand out in the music world compared to other musicians in their same genre. Lil B or Based God is a rapper from Berkeley who made over 500 MySpace and twitter pages and released songs and music videos daily. While he isn’t necessarily a talented rapper the sheer volume of his work on the Internet is almost impossible to ignore.

A lot of music also becomes popularized in the exact opposite way on the internet for example Danish punk band Iceage had posted a few songs on the internet that eventually grew to an underground phenomenon.